1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention is data processing, or, more specifically, methods, apparatuses, and computer program products for servicing a globally broadcast interrupt signal in a multi-threaded computer.
2. Description of Related Art
The development of the EDVAC computer system of 1948 is often cited as the beginning of the computer era. Since that time, computer systems have evolved into extremely complicated devices. Today's computers are much more sophisticated than early systems such as the EDVAC. Computer systems typically include a combination of hardware and software components, application programs, operating systems, processors, buses, memory, input/output devices, and so on. As advances in semiconductor processing and computer architecture push the performance of the computer higher and higher, more sophisticated computer software has evolved to take advantage of the higher performance of the hardware, resulting in computer systems today that are much more powerful than just a few years ago.
The creation of multi-threading processors has increased the complexity of processor architecture and thus increased the complexity of operating the processor. For example, computer hardware may generate a globally broadcast interrupt signal needed to be serviced by multiple threads. Because multiple threads may be available to process the interrupt signal at different times, the complexity of servicing the globally broadcast interrupt signal in a multi-threaded computer is increased.